March on Washington

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom occurred from 27 to 28 August 1963 when 250,000 people, 80% of whom were African-Americans, marched on the US capital of Washington DC to demand an end to poverty and to demand more rights for oppressed people across the country. The march was spearheaded by Civil Rights movement leader Martin Luther King, Jr. who gave the historic "I Have a Dream" speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial on 28 August. King observed that one hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation, African-Americans still were not free, and he told his audience of how people would one day rise up and live up to the creed of "all men are created equal." The March on Washington was undoubtedly the most important reason behind the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and it was seen as a major victory for the Civil Rights movement.